This vignette covers different methods for formatting the records
from REDCap into an analysis ready data set. It is assumed that the
reader is familiar with the process for exporting data from REDCap to R
as described in
vignette("api", package = "REDCapExporter")
For the purposes of this vignette we will use the example data sets provided in the package from the 2000-2001 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche. The data was transcribed from Hockey Reference into a REDCap Project hosed at the University of Colorado Denver.
The data sets we will work with in this vignette are:
library(REDCapExporter)
avs_raw_core # object returned from export_core(format = "csv")
avs_raw_metadata # object returned from export_content(content = "metadata", format = "csv")
avs_raw_record # object returned from export_content(content = "record", format = "csv")There are two conceptual formatting tools provided by REDCapExporter:
as.data.frameformat_record
Coercion to data.frame
The object returned from export_content is a string in
either csv or json format. To have that information as a data.frame call
as.data.frame.
This method works for the metadata and records directly.
avs_metadata_DF <- as.data.frame(avs_raw_metadata)
avs_record_DF <- as.data.frame(avs_raw_record)For rcer_rccore objects returned by
export_core all the elements can be coerced to data.frames
via lapply
avs_core_DFs <- lapply(avs_raw_core, as.data.frame)The behavior of as.data.frame for these objects is to
return a data.frame with all character columns.
avs_metadata_DF |> sapply(class) |> sapply(is.character) |> all()
## [1] TRUE
avs_record_DF |> sapply(class) |> sapply(is.character) |> all()
## [1] TRUEObviously, this is not ideal for analysis. It does give the user a
known starting point for formatting the records explicitly. However,
REDCapExporter provides the format_record method to
simplify this task by using the metadata from the REDCap project.
format_record
format_record uses the metadata to inform the storage
mode of the elements of a data.frame. For example, after exporting the
core of a REDCap project we can build a data.frame avsDF
via
avsDF <- format_record(avs_raw_core)
str(avsDF, max.level = 0)
## Classes 'rcer_record' and 'data.frame': 32 obs. of 75 variables:Note: the above uses the core export from REDCap. You can use just the record and metadata to get the same result:
identical(
format_record(avs_raw_core),
format_record(avs_raw_record, avs_raw_metadata)
)
## [1] TRUELet’s look at the avsDF object (presented as a nice
human readable table)
| record_id | uniform_number | firstname | lastname | hof | nationality | position | birthdate | first_nhl_game | last_nhl_game | height | weight | shoots | catches | experience | roster_complete | gp | goals | assists | points | plusmn | pimi | goals_ev | goals_pp | goals_sh | goals_gw | assists_ev | assists_pp | assists_sh | shots | shooting_percentage | toi | atoi | regular_season_scoring_complete | wins | losses | ties_otl | goals_against | shots_against | saves | save_percentage | gaa | so | regular_season_goalies_complete | gp_postseason | goals_postseason | assists_postseason | points_postseason | plusmn_postseason | pimi_postseason | goals_ev_postseason | goals_pp_postseason | goals_sh_postseason | goals_gw_postseason | assists_ev_postseason | assists_pp_postseason | assists_sh_postseason | shots_postseason | shooting_percentage_postseason | toi_postseason | atoi_postseason | post_season_scoring_complete | wins_postseason | losses_postseason | ties_otl_postseason | goals_allowed_postseason | saves_postseason | save_percentage_postseason | gaa_postseason | so_postseason | post_season_goalies_complete | eg_checkbox___cb01 | eg_checkbox___cb02 | eg_checkbox___cb03 | extras_complete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | David | Aebischer | 0 | Swiss | Goal | 1978-02-07 | 2001-04-07 | 2007-10-10 | 73 | 185 | NA | Left | 0 | Complete | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | 0.000000 | 1393 | 53M 34S | Complete | 12 | 7 | 3 | 52 | 538 | 486 | 0.9033457 | 2.24 | 3 | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | NA | 1 | 32S | Complete | 0 | 0 | NA | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0 | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 2 | 46 | Yuri | Babenko | 0 | USSR | Center | 1978-01-02 | 2000-11-22 | 2000-11-29 | 73 | 200 | Left | NA | 0 | Complete | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000000 | 32 | 10M 34S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 3 | 45 | Rick | Berry | 0 | Canada | Defence | 1978-11-04 | 2001-01-07 | 2004-04-04 | 74 | 210 | Left | NA | 0 | Complete | 19 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.000000 | 231 | 12M 8S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 4 | 4 | Rob | Blake | 1 | Canada | Defence | 1969-12-10 | 1990-03-27 | 2010-05-23 | 76 | 220 | Right | NA | 11 | Complete | 13 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 4.545454 | 339 | 26M 3S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 83 | 7.228916 | 677 | 29M 26S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 5 | 77 | Ray | Bourque | 1 | Canada | Defence | 1960-12-28 | 1979-10-11 | 2001-06-09 | 71 | 219 | Left | NA | 21 | Complete | 80 | 7 | 52 | 59 | 25 | 48 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 31 | 0 | 216 | 3.240741 | 2088 | 26M 6S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 21 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 49 | 8.163265 | 599 | 28M 32S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 6 | 7 | Greg | de Vries | 0 | Canada | Defence | 1973-01-04 | 1996-01-17 | 2009-04-10 | 74 | 205 | Left | NA | 5 | Complete | 79 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 6.578947 | 1351 | 17M 6S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 20 | 0.000000 | 328 | 14M 17S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 7 | 18 | Adam | Deadmarsh | 0 | Canada | Right Wing | 1975-05-10 | 1995-01-21 | 2002-12-15 | 72 | 205 | Right | NA | 6 | Complete | 39 | 13 | 13 | 26 | -2 | 59 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 86 | 15.116279 | 687 | 17M 38S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 8 | 11 | Chris | Dingman | 0 | Canada | Left Wing | 1976-07-06 | 1997-10-01 | 2006-04-25 | 76 | 235 | Left | NA | 3 | Complete | 41 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 108 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3.030303 | 264 | 6M 26S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 8 | 0.000000 | 101 | 6M 18S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 9 | 37 | Chris | Drury | 0 | USA | Left Wing | 1976-08-20 | 1998-10-10 | 2011-04-23 | 70 | 191 | Right | NA | 2 | Complete | 71 | 24 | 41 | 65 | 6 | 47 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 204 | 11.764706 | 1281 | 18M 3S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | NA | NA | NA | 62 | 17.741936 | 439 | 19M 6S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 10 | 52 | Adam | Foote | 0 | Canada | Defence | 1971-07-10 | 1991-10-19 | 2011-04-10 | 74 | 220 | Right | NA | 9 | Complete | 35 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 6 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 59 | 5.084746 | 888 | 25M 22S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 47 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 28 | 10.714286 | 652 | 28M 22S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 11 | 21 | Peter | Forsberg | 1 | Sweeden | Center | 1973-07-20 | 1995-01-11 | 2011-02-12 | 72 | 205 | Left | NA | 6 | Complete | 73 | 27 | 62 | 89 | 23 | 54 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 24 | 4 | 178 | 15.168539 | 1518 | 20M 48S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | NA | NA | NA | 23 | 17.391304 | 241 | 21M 55S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 12 | 5 | Alexei | Gusarov | 0 | USSR | Defence | 1964-07-08 | 1990-12-15 | 2001-05-21 | 75 | 185 | Left | NA | 10 | Complete | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.000000 | 135 | 14M 59S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 13 | 23 | Milan | Hejduk | 0 | Czechoslovakia | Right Wing | 1976-02-14 | 1998-10-10 | 2013-04-27 | 72 | 190 | Right | NA | 2 | Complete | 80 | 41 | 38 | 79 | 32 | 36 | 28 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 213 | 19.248826 | 1589 | 19M 52S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 51 | 13.725490 | 496 | 21M 33S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 14 | 13 | Dan | Hinote | 0 | USA | Center | 1977-01-30 | 1999-10-05 | 2009-04-21 | 72 | 187 | Right | NA | 1 | Complete | 76 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 51 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 69 | 7.246377 | 787 | 10M 21S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 16 | 12.500000 | 192 | 8M 22S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 15 | 24 | Jon | Klemm | 0 | Canada | Defence | 1970-01-08 | 1992-02-23 | 2008-04-03 | 74 | 205 | Right | NA | 8 | Complete | 78 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 22 | 54 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 97 | 4.123711 | 1554 | 19M 56S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 14 | 7.142857 | 357 | 16M 15S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 16 | 9 | Brad | Larsen | 0 | Canada | Left Wing | 1977-06-28 | NA | NA | 72 | 210 | Left | NA | 1 | Incomplete | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000000 | 84 | 9M 17S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 17 | 29 | Eric | Messier | 0 | Canada | Left Wing | 1973-10-29 | 1996-11-11 | 2003-11-21 | 74 | 195 | Left | NA | 4 | Complete | 64 | 5 | 7 | 12 | -3 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 8.333333 | 786 | 12M 16S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 20 | 10.000000 | 374 | 16M 16S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Incomplete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 18 | 3 | Aaron | Miller | 0 | USA | Defence | 1971-08-11 | 1994-01-15 | 2008-03-06 | 75 | 210 | Right | NA | 7 | Complete | 56 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 49 | 8.163265 | 1032 | 18M 25S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 19 | 2 | Bryan | Muir | 0 | Canada | Defence | 1973-06-08 | 1996-03-08 | 2007-04-07 | 75 | 224 | Left | NA | 4 | Unverified | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000000 | 66 | 8M 14S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | NA | 10 | 3M 15S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 20 | 39 | Ville | Nieminen | 0 | Finland | Left Wing | 1977-04-06 | 2000-01-29 | 2007-04-05 | 71 | 200 | Left | NA | 1 | Complete | 50 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 8 | 38 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 68 | 20.588235 | 622 | 12M 26S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -1 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 39 | 10.256410 | 326 | 14M 10S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 21 | 27 | Scott | Parker | 0 | USA | Right Wing | 1978-01-29 | 1998-11-28 | 2008-03-11 | 77 | 240 | Right | NA | 10 | Complete | 69 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 155 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 5.714286 | 394 | 5M 42S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | NA | 9 | 2M 12S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 22 | 25 | Shjon | Podein | 0 | USA | Right Wing | 1968-03-05 | 1993-01-09 | 2003-04-22 | 74 | 200 | Left | NA | 8 | Complete | 82 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 7 | 68 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 10.948905 | 1180 | 14M 23S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 16 | 12.500000 | 345 | 14M 59S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 23 | 4-44 | Nolan | Pratt | 0 | Canda | Defence | 1975-08-14 | 1996-10-05 | 2008-04-03 | 75 | 207 | Left | NA | 4 | Complete | 46 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3.846154 | 452 | 9M 50S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 24 | 63 | Joel | Prpic | 0 | Canada | Center | 1974-09-25 | NA | NA | 78 | 225 | Left | NA | 2 | Incomplete | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | 29 | 9M 47S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 25 | 14 | Dave | Reid | 0 | Canada | Right Wing | 1964-05-15 | 1983-12-23 | 2001-06-09 | 73 | 217 | Left | NA | 17 | Complete | 73 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 1.515151 | 721 | 9M 53S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 8 | 0.000000 | 164 | 9M 8S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 26 | 28 | Steve | Reinprecht | 0 | Canada | Center | 1976-05-07 | NA | NA | 72 | 195 | Left | NA | 1 | Incomplete | 21 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 10.714286 | 328 | 15M 38S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 14 | 14.285714 | 267 | 12M 9S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 27 | 33 | Patrick | Roy | 1 | Canada | Goal | 1965-10-05 | 1985-02-23 | 2003-04-22 | 74 | 185 | NA | Left | 16 | Complete | 62 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | NA | 3565 | 57M 30S | Complete | 40 | 13 | 7 | 132 | 1513 | 1281 | 0.8466623 | 2.22 | 4 | Complete | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 0 | NA | 1451 | NA | Incomplete | 16 | 7 | NA | 41 | 622 | 0.934 | 1.7 | 4 | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 28 | 19 | Joe | Sakic | 1 | Canada | Center | 1969-07-07 | 1988-10-06 | 2008-11-28 | 71 | 195 | Left | NA | 12 | Complete | 82 | 54 | 64 | 118 | 45 | 30 | 32 | 19 | 3 | 12 | 34 | 27 | 3 | 332 | 16.265060 | 1887 | 23M 1S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 21 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | NA | NA | NA | 79 | 16.455696 | 452 | 21M 33S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 29 | 44 | Rob | Shearer | 0 | Canada | Center | 1976-10-19 | 2000-11-11 | 2000-11-13 | 70 | 190 | Right | NA | 0 | Complete | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | 14 | 6M 45S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 1 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 30 | 41 | Martin | Skoula | 0 | Czechoslovakia | Defence | 1979-10-28 | 1999-10-05 | 2010-04-22 | 75 | 226 | Left | NA | 11 | Complete | 82 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 8 | 38 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 108 | 7.407407 | 1697 | 20M 41S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | NA | 14 | 7.142857 | 276 | 11M 59S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 31 | 40 | Alex | Tanguay | 0 | Canada | Left Wing | 1979-11-21 | 1999-10-05 | 2016-04-19 | 73 | 194 | Left | NA | 1 | Complete | 82 | 27 | 50 | 77 | 35 | 37 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 11 | 0 | 135 | 20.000000 | 1464 | 17M 51S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | NA | NA | NA | 37 | 16.216216 | 444 | 19M 18S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
| 32 | 26 | Stephane | Yelle | 0 | Canada | Center | 1974-05-09 | 1995-10-06 | 2010-04-24 | 74 | 182 | Left | NA | 5 | Complete | 50 | 4 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 7.407407 | 723 | 14M 28S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 23 | 4.347826 | 319 | 13M 52S | Complete | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | Complete | 0 | 0 | 0 | Incomplete |
Now, consider the classes of the columns. Start by looking at a few columns which look like they are numeric values, record_id, uniform_number, height, and points.
cols <- c("record_id", "uniform_number", "height", "points")
head(avsDF[, cols], n = 3)
## record_id uniform_number height points
## 1 1 1 73 1
## 2 2 46 73 0
## 3 3 45 74 4
sapply(avsDF[, cols], class)
## record_id uniform_number height points
## "character" "character" "integer" "numeric"Why are record_id and uniform_number, stored as characters whereas height and points (sum of goals scored and assists) integer and numeric values respectively? The answer is in the metadata.
avs_metadata_DF[avs_metadata_DF$field_name %in% cols, ]| field_name | form_name | section_header | field_type | field_label | select_choices_or_calculations | field_note | text_validation_type_or_show_slider_number | text_validation_min | text_validation_max | identifier | branching_logic | required_field | custom_alignment | question_number | matrix_group_name | matrix_ranking | field_annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| record_id | roster | text | Record ID | ||||||||||||||
| uniform_number | roster | text | Uniform Number | ||||||||||||||
| height | roster | text | Height | in inches | integer | 60 | 84 | ||||||||||
| points | regular_season_scoring | calc | Points | [goals]+[assists] |
Notice that for the record_id and uniform_number the field_type is “text” with no value for “select_choices_or_calculations” and no value for “text_validation_type_or_show_slider_number”. This is interpreted, then, as just a text field and should be character vector in the data.frame. Obviously the user could coerce to integer of numeric is desired and if appropriate.
For height, note that the field_type is “text” and the “text_validation_type_or_show_slider_number” is “integer”, hence the coercion from the raw data to integer when building the data.frame. Lastly, the points are a calculated field and set to numeric.
REDCapExporter attempts to make reasonable assumptions for the data types base on the metadata. For example, dates in REDCap can by entered and validated in Year-Month-Day, Month-Day-Year, and Day-Month-Year formats. The raw data is all in Year-Month-Day format.
| field_name | field_type | field_label | field_note | text_validation_type_or_show_slider_number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| birthdate | text | Birthdate | Format: M-D-Y | date_mdy |
| first_nhl_game | text | Date of first NHL game | date_dmy | |
| last_nhl_game | text | Date of last NHL game | date_ymd |
The coercion that will be used when calling
format_record is defined by an implicit call to
col_type which uses the metadata, in raw or formatted form,
to determine the coercion.
identical(col_type(avs_raw_metadata), col_type(avs_metadata_DF))
## [1] TRUE
ct <- col_type(avs_metadata_DF)Each of the elements of ct are applied to the column of
the data frame with the same name. Examples: The record_id is to be a
character string by default.
ct[["record_id"]]
## as.character(record_id)If the user would prefer the record_id to be an integer we can modify
ct and apply it explicitly when calling
format_record.
ct[["record_id"]] |> str()
## language as.character(record_id)
ct[["record_id"]] <- expression(as.integer(record_id))
avsDF2 <- format_record(avs_raw_core, col_type = ct)
## Ignoring metadata, using col_typeTwo notes to make here, first, we can see that the storage mode is
different between avsDF$record_id and
avsDF2$record_id.
Second, there is a message (not a warning), that the metadata that is
part of the avs_raw_core object, is not being used to
define the column types.
If you want to suppress that message you can use
suppressMessages(format_record(avs_raw_core, col_type = ct))or use the records as the object passed to
format_record
format_record(avs_record_DF, col_type = ct)By default, variables recorded in REDCap via radio buttons or dropdown lists are formatted as factors. For example, the position of the player is a factor.
class(avsDF$position)
## [1] "factor"
summary(avsDF$position)
## Goal Left Wing Right Wing Center Defence
## 2 6 5 8 11If you’d prefer to have all these variables stored as characters
instead of factors you can modify the call to col_type
ct <- col_type(avs_raw_metadata, factors = FALSE)
avsDF2 <- format_record(avs_raw_record, col_type = ct)
class(avsDF2$position)
## [1] "character"
summary(avsDF2$position)
## Length Class Mode
## 32 character character
table(avsDF2$position)
##
## Center Defence Goal Left Wing Right Wing
## 8 11 2 6 5The default formatting is documented in the manual file The implemented code is within the S3 method:
?col_type